After the entrance, the speech's most raucous moments came during "red meat" time. That is, criticizing President Obama. One of the biggest applause lines was Ryan referring to the "You didn't build that" quote that Obama has been taking heat for.

The line has become a talking point about the role of government in society and a favorite GOP attack line. Rather than wading into the controversy, here's the Obama quote from the July Roanoke, Va. rally with more context.

"Look, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own. You didn’t get there on your own. I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there. It must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tell you something -- there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there. If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business -- you didn’t build that."

"Whether you're in Roanoke, Newport News or Janesville, Wis., if you have a small business, you built that small business," Ryan said Tuesday. The crowd roared in approval.

While of course partisanship is not surprising, my overall impression of the crowd is that it was more conservative and partisan than a Mitt Romney crowd would have been.

I think there's a few reasons for this.

First, Romney has a more moderate reputation from his time as governor of left-leaning Massachusetts, while Ryan is considered more of a pure conservative.

Also, I think those who would go see a vice presidential nominee from either party are more "true believers." A vice presidential candidate wouldn't draw as many people who are simply curious about seeing a potential new president and what they have to say and what direction the country is going in.

Ryan is young and probably has future presidential aspirations. For political junkies, seeing Ryan before he actually runs for president is a draw. For non-political junkies, not so much.

The size of the venue also limited the crowd to those willing to go out of their way to see Ryan. While 2,000 is a nice-sized crowd, you had to get free tickets in advance. You couldn't just show up to an outdoor venue, for instance, and see him speak. Again, I think that led to more of a partisan crowd.

Anyway, it was interesting to see the rally in person, where you can observe these nuances in person versus a television clip.